Intelligent skin disease prediction system using transfer learning and explainable artificial intelligence.

Skin diseases impact millions of people around the world and pose a severe risk to public health. These diseases have a wide range of effects on the skin's structure, functionality, and appearance. Identifying and predicting skin diseases are laborious processes that require a complete physical examination, a review of the patient's medical history, and proper laboratory diagnostic testing.

The Usefulness of Peer Tutoring and its Impact on Nursing Students' Academic Performance, Psychological Empowerment, and Satisfaction: Pre-Post Design.

Introduction: The entry to a professional course such as nursing is challenging for the students, due to its multifaceted curriculum and learning expectations.

Objectives: This study investigates the impact of peer tutoring on academic performance, psychological empowerment, and satisfaction among first-year nursing students.

Methods: A quantitative approach with one-group pre-test post-test design was utilized.

Sustainable performance in SMEs using big data analytics for closed-loop supply chains and reverse omnichannel.

The study aims to examine the advantages of utilizing big data analytics (BDA) on circular economy (CE) dual systems, which are closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) and the reverse omnichannel (ROC), aiming to enhance sustainable firm performance (SFP) of the small and medium based enterprises (SMEs). The product return knowledge (PRK) can reinforce the proposed network of relationships and facilitate the approach of active returns in CE. Using the structural equation model (SEM) in AMOS v24, the researchers examined the hypotheses using data from a simple random sample of 232 SMEs in Pakistan.

Identifying and Exploring the Cognitive Nature of Threshold Concepts in Pharmacology to Improve Medical Students' Learning.

Pharmacology is a fundamental healthcare discipline, but it can be difficult and counterintuitive for learners to learn. Navigation toward understanding pharmacology can be troublesome, but once the threshold to comprehension is crossed, learners can experience a transformative shift in their ways of thinking and practicing. We conducted an in-depth examination of threshold concepts within pharmacology, aiming to identify and prioritize their learning to improve the medical curriculum and enhance medical treatment and patient safety.

Estimated electric conductivities of thermal plasma for air-fuel combustion and oxy-fuel combustion with potassium or cesium seeding.

A complete model for estimating the electric conductivity of combustion product gases, with added cesium (Cs) or potassium (K) vapor for ionization, is presented. Neutral carrier gases serve as the bulk fluid that carries the seed material, as well as the electrons generated by the partial thermal (equilibrium) ionization of the seed alkali metal. The model accounts for electron-neutral scattering, as well as electron-ion and electron-electron scattering.

Vision-Related Quality of Life Among Diabetic Retinopathy Patients in a Hospital-Based Population in the Sultanate of Oman.

Background: The global prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) among individuals with diabetes is 22.27%. This highlights the likelihood of developing burden of retinopathy within the at risk population and can have a detrimental impact on an individual's quality of life (QoL).

Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy Among Individuals with Diabetes in Gulf Cooperation Council countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: To determine the proportion of diabetic retinopathy (DR) among individuals with diabetes mellitus in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Methods: This study was executed in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. Online databases including Scopus, Web of Sciences, PubMed, Index Medicus for the eastern Mediterranean region, Medline, and ProQuest, were utilized to retrieve studies on the prevalence of DR in GCC countries that were conducted from 2003 to 2019.

Olive Oil-Based Reverse Microemulsion for Stability and Topical Delivery of Methotrexate: In Vitro.

Hydrolysis of pharmaceutically active molecules can be in control under a confined environment of water-in-oil microemulsion. Stability of model drug methotrexate (MTX) in a sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) and olive oil microemulsion system has been evaluated. The physicochemical properties of AOT-MTX-water-olive oil reverse microemulsion (MTX-RM) were examined by UV-vis, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction techniques, and the hydrodynamic size was determined by dynamic light scattering techniques and morphologies were characterized by a transmission electron microscope and atomic force microscope.

Profile of contact lens prescribing in GCC countries.

Purpose: This study aimed to report the pattern of contact lens prescribing from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Methods: Optometrists in the GCC region were contacted to participate in a web-based survey hosted on Qualtrics XM (Provo, Utah, USA). The survey methodology was adapted from the International Contact Lens Prescribing Consortium, and participants were asked to report their last five lens fits.

Exploring the use of metacognitive monitoring cues following a diagram completion intervention.

Studying texts constitutes a significant part of student learning in health professions education. Key to learning from text is the ability to effectively monitor one's own cognitive performance and take appropriate regulatory steps for improvement. Inferential cues generated during a learning experience typically guide this monitoring process.

Cultivating sustainable environmental performance: The role of green talent management, transformational leadership, and employee engagement with green initiatives.

Background: The success of organizations' sustainable performance mainly depends on their human resource capital and for this organizations now need to focus on green human capital development programs including green talent management (GTM). GTM entails attracting, nurturing, and retaining those people who can promote the green initiatives of the organization.

Objective: This paper aims to investigate the impact of GTM, transformational leadership, and employee engagement on the sustainable environmental performance of organizations.

Twelve tips for applying the think-aloud method to capture cognitive processes.

The think-aloud method is an established technique for studying human thought (cognitive) processes. Problem-solving and decision-making are essential skills for medical professionals, and the cognitive processes underlying these skills are complex. Studying these thought processes would enable educators, clinicians, and researchers to modify or refine their approaches and interventions.

The Price of silence, isolation, and cynicism: The impact on occupational frustration.

In today's competitive business landscape, organisational dynamics like , , and deeply influence employee well-being. Understanding these is vital in the private sector for a productive and harmonious workplace. This study examined the impact of organisational silence (OS), organisational isolation (OI), and organisational cynicism (OC) on occupational frustration (OF) among private sector employees in Oman.

A multivariate dataset on profiling personality traits, social and cognitive determinants of omani students' entrepreneurial intention.

This data article collects and validates a multivariate dataset on personality traits, social, and cognitive predictors of the entrepreneurial intention of 276 students of three Omani universities. Administering a validated questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted by taking a sample of 60 responses to ensure the robustness of the survey scales. Following the pilot study, the final data were collected from 276 UG and PG level students in February 2021, which were first cleaned for missing, unengaged, and outlier responses before going ahead with statistical analyses.

Optimization of Fly Ash-Slag One-Part Geopolymers with Improved Properties.

One-part geopolymer concrete/mortar is a pre-mixed material made from industrial by-products and solid alkaline activators that only requires the addition of water for activation. Apart from being environmentally friendly, it also reduces complexity and improves consistency in the mixing process, leading to more efficient production and consistent material properties. However, developing one-part geopolymer concrete with desirable compressive strength is challenging because of the complexity of the chemical reaction involved, the variability of the raw materials used, and the need for precise control of curing conditions.

Differences in Practitioner Experience, Practice Type, and Profession in Attitudes Toward Growing Contact Lens Practice.

Objective: To investigate eye care practitioners' attitudes and perceptions toward potential interventions that can enhance contact lens (CL) practice across the world, and how this is influenced by their practice setting.

Methods: A self-administered, anonymized survey was constructed in English and then forward and backward translated into six more languages. The survey was distributed online via social media platforms and mailing lists involving reputed international professional bodies.

Barriers and Perception Towards Spectacle Wear among a Student Population of University of Buraimi, Oman.

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the barriers and perceptions towards spectacle wear among the student population of the University of Buraimi, Oman.

Methods: A descriptive, questionnaire-based and cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2017 and May 2018. Ophthalmic examination and a standard spectacle prescription protocol were used to identify those with inappropriate spectacle coverage.

Opportunities and threats to contact lens practice: A global survey perspective.

Aim: To understand the views of contact lens (CL) practitioners across the globe regarding what they perceive as opportunities and threats in CL practice.

Methods: A self-administered anonymised questionnaire, constructed in English and translated in six more languages, was distributed through reputed international professional bodies and academic institutions worldwide. The questionnaire included items on demographic characteristics, type of practice, and questions designed to explore practitioners' perspective on the future of their CL practice over the next five years.

Assessment of global warming in Al Buraimi, sultanate of Oman based on statistical analysis of NASA POWER data over 39 years, and testing the reliability of NASA POWER against meteorological measurements.

We performed a number of statistical analysis methods on the historical data for the air temperature at 2 m above the ground and its range, as reported by the database of NASA known as POWER, which stands for Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources. The point of analysis is the University of Buraimi, located in Al Buraimi Governate, in the Northwest of the Sultanate of Oman, near its border with United Arab Emirates (UAE). The data is in the form of a value per day, for every day in the year.

Health-Related Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease in the Middle East and North Africa Region: A systematic review.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) can significantly impair the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children and adolescents. This review aimed to assess current evidence regarding the HRQOL of children and adolescents with SCD in the Middle East and North Africa region. A systematic search of various databases was conducted to identify relevant articles, including MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA), Scopus (Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Masader (Oman Virtual Science Library, Muscat, Oman) and EBSCOhost (EBSCO Information Services, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA).